Lottery games have become very popular, and have proven to be a successful means by which the public authorities sponsoring these games have been able to generate revenues for use for the public good. In a first type of lottery game known as a pre-printed or “instant win” lottery game, a lottery game player purchases individual game tickets of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,451,052, and 5,560,610, respectively, issued to Behm et al., for play. Each game ticket is pre-printed by an authorized lottery game ticket manufacturer, and typically offers a cash game prize of a predetermined amount, the prize amount being covered by a rub or scratch off coating printed or laminated onto the pre-printed surface of the lottery game ticket. Once the game player scratches off the coating, and if the prize amounts match as required by the rules of the game, the lottery game player will win the prize amount printed on the ticket.
A second type of popular lottery game is an on-line game, more commonly thought of as a “lotto” type game, which requires that a game player fill out a game play ticket with a series of lottery play numbers thereon, and/or designate a “quick pick” in which either a lottery terminal or an off-site lottery system host computer generates the lottery play numbers. The lottery play slip is scanned into a lottery terminal whereupon a ticket is authorized by the lottery system and printed at the lottery terminal.
As is well known to lottery authorities and lottery game players, both the pre-printed and on-line lottery games are typically purchased at a retail store or a convenience store that has the requisite lottery terminal for on-line games, and a display case comprising either a series of bins or plastic holding racks for holding and displaying a supply of pre-printed game tickets. When a game player desires to play a pre-printed game, for example, the sales clerk is oftentimes required to manually withdraw the requested number of tickets from the ticket storage bin, separate the tickets being sold from the remaining tickets in the ticket pack or book, and tender the tickets to the game player.
Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient pre-printed lottery game system and sales method which removes the barriers to selling in retail store environments in either or both of a single lane or a multi-lane retail sales environment, and yet which allows pre-printed lottery game tickets and other lottery products to be readily made available to consumers, and which will be minimally intrusive when used with existing POS systems. Additionally, there is a need for such a lottery game system and sales method which need not be integrated into the individual POS terminals of a store's POS system, which will not require undue amounts of store labor to safely and efficiently handle and dispense the lottery products, and which will also lower the cost of handling, stocking, and replenishing both on-line and pre-printed lottery supplies and tickets, respectively.